Tales from the Confessional
by Snooosh
Summary: Because EVERYONE, within the Magdalene order, has to confess sometimes...
1. Lust vs Wrath

Author's talking (so listen dammit):

Here's another one from me. I thought about this because even though a lot of CC takes place in a convent, and they're supposedly religious people, we never get to see any confessions. There aren't too many fics out there dealing with this either, so I decided to give it a shot. It's a good way to make stories centered around other characters than just C & R, and the confessional of the Magdalene order can indeed be an interesting place. Bear in mind I'm not a catholic myself (and hardly consider myself very religious), so if my confessions are a bit off, you now know why. Characters might be OOC too, but they kinda need to be for the story to work.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Tales from the Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 1 – Lust vs. Wrath

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"Forgive me father, for I have sinned." The familiar words from inside the confessional came from a woman. "It has been a month since my last confession." 

"And what does your heart need forgiveness for?" The baritone voice coming from the priest's side was slightly muffled.

"Are you alright, father?" She knew this priest's voice very well, and it sounded a bit... different somehow, as if it was clogged. "You sound a bit strange today."

"It's alright. I'm just recovering from a cold, and my voice hasn't returned fully to normal yet."

"Oh, okay..." The various priests had confessional-duty on different days, and she knew who had when. She used this to plan her own confessions, so she would always confess to the same priest. Father Abrams was a kind man, and even though the priests all took the same vow of silence, it gave her a sense of security, that it was always him who sat here with her, when she poured her heart and her sins out. It was a very ordered way of going to confession, but she _was_ a very orderly nun.

"So," came the priest's voice once again. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, I became very angry with one of our exorcists." The nun took off her glasses and held them in her hands, which she rested on her lap. It made the world slightly more fuzzy. Not to the point where she couldn't see, but definitely enough so she wouldn't be able to read very well. "Rosette... trashed... another jalopy this week... that's five in this month alone, and the expenditures for her recklessness are only increasing. I think, I lost my temper completely, when I reprimanded her... I very nearly slapped her... In fact I had already lifted my hand to strike, and the only thing which stayed my hand... was that she appeared almost afraid... of me." She lowered her head a bit, slightly shameful of her own actions. "I don't want her to be afraid of me. It's just... so hard for me to control my anger around her... I mean she's a very nice girl, and she means well with her actions, and I know she's carrying a lot of pain with her, but sometimes... sometimes I just want too _kick_ her out of the order... she's starting to cause greater damage than the demons I send her out to stop, and she always says that she will be more careful the next time, but she never is. I can even sense, that the populace of the city are actually beginning to become apprehensive about the order and what we're actually doing. If it gets much worse the council will probably force me to take drastic measures, and I just... I don't know what to do about it... she just won't listen to reason."

"Yes...Rosette can be very... costly... and taxing... and being patient with her can be quite the challenge." The priest answered, she could hear his sympathy for her situation, after all Rosette's 'maintenance cost' was getting quite infamous within the order. "Anything else...?"

"Yes..." Her voice began to quiver slightly. "I've had... thoughts... again..." She hesitated.

"And..." Sensing her reluctance the priest gently encouraged her to continue.

"Impure... thoughts... In fact... _highly _impure thoughts..." She could feel the adrenalin rush throughout her, as her cheeks changed color to deep red.

"I see..." Came the calming voice of the priest from the other side.

"It's about... a man..." The nun continued. "A man within our order... he's a militia class exorcist... one of our very best... Well, maybe even THE best..." Her lips formed into an embarrassed smile, he truly was a fantastic man.

"Go on..."

"Well, he's tall... handsome... gentle... honest..." She could feel that she was getting carried away, as her hands began to fidget with her glasses. But it was nice... letting it all out. "He's always calm, and it just feels like he has complete... control over everything he's doing, like he's almost incapable of acting rashly... or without sense." She again halted her voice, noticing that she was beginning to think about him again... think about him in _that_ way.

"And this man... what do you think about... when you think about him?" The priest asked.

Oh, this was easy, her thoughts were already way ahead of the priest. Well, it wouldn't be easy for her to speak about it under normal circumstances, but inside the little stuffy room, she could get caught up in her own fantasy, and she only had to remove the barrier between her imagination and her voice, in order for it to flow out freely. "Well... he comes into my office... he doesn't have an appointment, so I ask him what he's doing here..." Her breathing became a tiny bit heavier. " He doesn't answer... simply looks... hungrily... at me... with his blue eyes... he comes closer to me and... then he says he's just here to see me... I don't know how to react to his stare... so I simply... wait... for him to do something..." She closed her eyes and bit her lip slightly. "then... he wraps his arm around my waist, and lifts me up to sit on the desk... he stares directly into my eyes and says... that he's been thinking about me... that he can't _stop_ thinking about me... that he knows it's wrong... that he shouldn't be feeling this way... but he simply can't..." The sister swallowed heavily, making a gulping sound. "Control himself... that somehow I've made him... lose... that calm he carries with him always... I try to say something... to break free... to stop him... to tell him that he must get a hold of himself but... he drowns my words... in a... kiss... and..." She was almost lost in her thoughts now, her reason tried to tell her that she was a nun, and she shouldn't be feeling this way, much less blurting it all out, but her body told her, that she was a woman. A woman who was still young, as it was only last year she crossed the 30 year line, a woman whose desires had been repressed by the rules of the order and her own beliefs, a woman who most definitely could hear the ticking of her biological clock. "I simply... can't... resist... I start to touch him... and I stop caring about rules and regulations and sin and salvation... He touches me too... and I like it... He forces me to lie down on the desk, still kissing me... and I wrap my arms around his back and my legs around his waist... he throws all the paperwork, and even the phone on the floor... and starts to undress me... frantically... and then..." In that instant her reason snapped back into place, and she caught her own words before they had a chance to escape her lips. She was breathing heavier her face seemed to have heated up close to boiling point, her hands were sweaty and she had almost crushed her glasses. "Uh... I'm... I'm sorry... I know... It's very wrong..." Her voice was still shaken with excitement. Dammit! What was she, some sort of lovesick teenager? She should be able to control herself better than this, why did he... affect her like this...

"The sin of lust..." The priest still sounded calm. "Can be a very hard one to keep in check. Often it will spring to life within us, whether we want it to or not, and of course we must try to do our best to quell it, but..." The tone became a bit more serious. "We must always watch out not to get blinded by one sin alone and use all of our virtue to fight that single one. There are seven deadly sins, which all must be taken into account, and we cannot focus on only one..."

"But, father? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you seem preoccupied with having thoughts of lust, which is something we all have from time to time. But at the same time... you almost gave in... physically... to a much more severe sin... namely the sin of wrath."

He was right, she had completely forgotten... she had almost... hit... Rosette, and she didn't want to consider what the girl might have thought of her if she had. She actually really liked Rosette, despite her reckless behavior, and she didn't want the young exorcist to think _too_ badly of her. A little fear was alright though, it made it easier to keep the wild nun in line. "So what... should I do...?"

"Be aware of every one of the sins, what's really dangerous is that they use each other in this way. Consider that we are under attack on seven fronts. If we deploy all of our defense in the fight against one we lose some or all of the others... knowing the balance in this fight is essential, because we cannot expect ourselves to be endlessly vigilant at all times. Sometimes we even have to allow ourselves to let go, otherwise we might end up unwillingly giving in to a much greater sin."

It did sound very reasonable, but the nun had never actually heard this before, always believed that every sin had to be fought back, but maybe nobody was strong or virtuous enough to actually do so, maybe she needed... to let go... if only just a little... "I think... I understand, father."

"Good." He continued by reciting part of the Roman absolution rite. "Through the ministry of the order may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

The words were well known to her, and they seemed to calm her a bit. "Amen."

"And do a single Rosemary decade, as it will help you in finding the right path to take."

"Only one...? That seems like awfully little." Came the nun's slightly surprised response.

"Well, you haven't truly committed any sins, merely thought about it."

"I see father, thank you."

"See you in a month?" The priest's voice was friendly and lighthearted.

"Yes father." She put on her glasses again and stepped out of the confessional. Maybe he was right... maybe she had been... repressing herself too much, and then taken her own frustrations out on Rosette. Well, her job was also quite the stressful one, she was the one in charge, and everything that went wrong was ultimately her responsibility, she could really use some way to relieve that stress...

Immediately her cheeks flushed brightly again, and she became very aware of the vast impurity of her own thoughts. Coughing nervously, in order to brace herself, the flustered head nun quickly corrected her attire, so she would look presentable, trying to calm her heated emotions.

And she had only just come out of the confessional...

She walked hurriedly down the aisle and out of the chapel, heading towards her office.

A few seconds after she had left, the door to the priest's side of the confessional opened, and out stepped a man in his mid-to-late twenties with blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile across his lips. He looked very pleased with himself. He pocketed the handkerchief he'd used to muffle his voice, and closed the door behind him. He had been aware of sister Kate's schedule, and had offered to take the seat in the confessional for about an hour around noon today, where he knew she would go to confession (she was very predictable once you knew her routines), allowing the assigned priest a break, which he had welcomed with gratitude. Father Abrams, who should be back shortly, was a nice man alright, but he didn't exactly posses great deduction skills. The blonde man had been curious for some time to hear what the head nun said during confession... and what a confession this had been...

His smile widened even further.

Tall, handsome.

He found it very hard to disagree with her on that.

Gentle.

Sure... he could be that... no problem.

Honest...

Ah well... three out of four wasn't so bad after all.

Ewan Remington began to walk out of the chapel whistling a merry tune. Man! Did he EVER hit the jackpot, when 'The Boss' assigned him to work within the Magdalene order.

Maybe he should drop by sister Kate's office now.

You know... just to say 'hi'.

**THE END

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Ladies and gentlemen... Playa Remington has just entered the game, so please review and tell me how you think he performed in this little fic.

Even though this is a oneshot, I don't consider it finished yet, since there HAS to be other confessions to write about, and I will update as soon as I get more ideas.


	2. Pride and Envy

Author's intro:

I finally managed to come up with another of these confession thingies. Again characters may appear to be OOC, but I am trying to make it as believable as possible while still keeping to the general idea of the confession.

A great many thanks to all you who reviewed the first chapter of this series, hopefully you'll enjoy this one as well.

Disclaimer: Still do not own.

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Tales from the Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 2 – Pride and Envy

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"Excuse me father for I have sinned." Came the slightly disgruntled voice. She hated doing this, it wasn't as if anything good had ever come out of it – not for her anyway. Supposedly asking forgiveness for sins she deep down didn't care about just seemed plain stupid, but still... she _was_ a catholic, and going to confession once in a while was a necessary evil she simply had to endure – like so many other things."It's been... uh... lemme see... nine months...? No... wait... ten months since my last confession." 

"Yes," came the voice of the priest from the other side of the confessional. She recognized it as the one belonging to the priest called Remington. Damn, just her luck that between all the geezers and dusty old farts within this priesthood, she would sit here and act all humble and pitiful towards someone who was actually young and attractive. Why she had even let herself be persuaded to confess within the church of the Magdalene order was beyond her, but she couldn't very well back out of it now – Rosette was definitely going to pay for this.

"Well..." She began hesitantly. "I guess I _have_ lost my temper on quite a few occasions... with the mechanics who were supposed to repair my car, which they promised to do within five days, but actually took two weeks to finish. Two weeks! Then I had to drive around in some god awful jalopy, if I wanted to go anywhere, imagine what people would think if they saw me in _that_! I suppose I could have bought another car, but then I would give in to those sloths at the car repair shop, and I really didn't want to give them the satisfaction. I also yelled at the clerk in Macy's when I found out they had sent the wrong couch, and scolded my tailor for not measuring correctly, and I guess I was a bit harsh towards a man who happened to bump into me on the street, I even shouted at my butler... and I can't even remember what for, although I think I've done it quite a few times lately." The voice having previously been so irate now held a tinge of regret. "I guess... I do feel bad about that." Now when she thought about it she really had been a bitch, getting worked up over nothing and taking out all of her frustrations on other people – especially Steiner who must have been endlessly patient with her.

Why had she started to become like this? It wasn't how she used to act.

There could only be one answer.

That pesky, little, reckless, holier-than-thou, out-to-save-the-world so-called demon exorcist was driving her completely mad.

"You know... this is all because of that crazy sister Rosette. She always gets in my face and in my way."

"Yes," the voice of father Remington gently urged her forward.

"Well, last time I was out shopping, she purposefully runs into me and starts berating me for spending my own money, screaming at me about it being sinful and shallow and whatever she called it, making a huge scene in the middle of the store. Of course we both get kicked out, but she doesn't seem the least bit concerned about drawing all that attention to herself and to me for that matter... in fact it seemed that she actually wanted to because she knows just how embarrassing the whole situation is to me, and it's so obvious that she's just plain jealous and only tries to bug me about it 'cause she's not rich herself." The jewel witch's temper was definitely on the rise. "She also interferes with my job now. The last bounty I was supposed to collect was from a landlord whose building had become infested with low-life demons making it impossible for him to attract any tenants. The bounty was actually quite good, and everything was going just fine, so I figured it was easy money. And then she and that blasted partner of hers show up, starting to shoot left and right with no sense of caution. Before I know it she's shot a hole in the tank containing the oil for for the whole building's furnace, she doesn't even notice that oil starts to spill out, and of course it becomes lit by sparks from the bullets. Pretty soon the whole basement is on fire, and we all need to run so we don't get caught in it. The fire department shows up to put out the fire, but the building is already so damaged that it's deemed uninhabitable, and naturally the owner is outraged because nobody can live there now, and since the bounty condition was to make the building able to attract tenants again I didn't get paid the least bit for my effort, and it's all just because _she_ decides to show up. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to actually do a job properly, and then not get any credit for it because someone else decides to ruin it."

The priest didn't have an answer to this so Satella took it as a sign for her to continue. She let out a sigh trying to calm herself before speaking again. "I suppose I don't actually _need_ the money from all the bounties, and it really shouldn't bother me what a simple clerk in a store thinks about me, much less that an obviously mentally impaired exorcist seems to hold a grudge against me. Not that I don't understand her, after all she doesn't really have the looks or the wealth that I posses, and I guess I do rub it in her face sometimes, but honestly... that little hothead needs to be put in place. I mean just because I'm richer and more refined than her, and it's getting on her nerves, she thinks she can just behave like a raving madwoman." In an odd way the German woman almost felt relieved letting out her frustrations about the walking disaster in the shape of a blond girl, somehow it had reassured her that she was above her, not only in the social hierarchy, but also as a person in general. Maybe going to confession wasn't really that bad. "So... I think that's about it."

Father Remington was silent, perhaps he was contemplating on a response, but it was still annoying the young CEO, she didn't have all day for this.

"The meek shall inherit the earth." The priest said after a while.

"The meek shall inherit the earth? What's that supposed to mean?" Now she was definitely getting confused.

"We must look beyond our earthly wealth, if we wish to embrace our spiritual wealth."

"What?" What was all this now about wealth. "You're not saying that I should just hand out all of my money, 'cause I'm not gonna do that I can tell you that much."

"No."

She really had hoped for a more elaborate response, but this priest obviously liked to give her half answers and let her figure out the rest for herself. She thought a bit about what he had said before replying again. "So... you're saying that I put too much value in physical wealth, and too little in spiritual values... is that it?"

"Yes."

That did seem to make a bit of sense, after all most of her aggravations were centered around physical wealth, like the car being too long in the repair shop, not getting payed for a bounty hunter job etc. "Then what do you propose I do?"

"The meek shall inherit the earth." The father replied enigmatically after a few seconds.

"I know. You already said that, but I can't help being born into the upper class, I'm not willingly going to be poor you know."

"No."

"But then how is this supposed to help me?"

No reply.

"What should I do?"

Still no response, damn this let-the-answer-come-to-herself attitude of his was so intensely annoying.

"What the hell do you want me to do? Dress up in rags? Walk around Washington Square Park begging for MONEY so I can learn this vaunted meekness of yours?"

"Yes."

"WHAT?" She practically screamed. "You can't be serious! I can't do that. Aren't I just supposed to do some 'All Father's' and be done with this?"

"No." The father said unwaveringly.

"This... is ridiculous..." Satella shook her head, this had to be some form of joke. She had never heard about this form of penance before – well presumably some kind of holy geezer would impose it on himself occasionally, but as a requirement for simple absolution given in a confession... "Are you really serious about all this?"

"Yes." The priest seemed quite stern about this.

"I suppose you want me to do it right away too?" She asked gruffly, although she knew the answer before he gave it.

"Yes."

All this seemed a bit unreal to the jewel summoner, and her face showed that she clearly didn't understand the deeper meaning of all this. But nothing more was being said, so apparently the session was over and she was now free to get up and out of this claustrophobic cell-like room.

"Go with God," came the gentle voice of father Remington, concluding the confession.

_Yeah whatever,_ Satella thought on her way out of the confessional. This was horrible... horrible and embarrassing. Of course the self-righteous pompous bastard couldn't just give her a number of prayers to do, no he actually had to make her do something he knew she would detest doing... just to get her to learn some form of blasted humility or building character or whatever. But she also knew he held quite a large authority within this church, and she did believe strongly in God – a belief she felt had helped her fight against the powers of darkness on more than one occasion. If this truly was what she needed to do to atone...

She'd probably better get it over with, and the sooner the better, still... this was so... horrible.

The jewel witch tromped angrily out of the chapel, down the path and out of the order towards her limousine. When Steiner saw his young mistress on her way, he got out, went to the back of the car, and opened the door allowing her to get in. "Where to, Miss Satella?"

"Just home... or... we might need to stop at some sort of second-hand clothes store on the way."

Steiner showed obvious puzzlement at this statement, but didn't comment on it, sometimes it was better to just keep ones mouth shut. He went to the driver's seat, started the car and pulled out on the road. They were now going to look for a store she normally wouldn't want to be seen within a hundred yards of.

Dammit... this was why she HATED going to confessions.

A few minutes passed, before another car came into view. It was a mundane jalopy, the ones typically used by the order. It drove up towards the entrance to the order, pulled over, and out stepped father Remington. He had left the confessional empty for several hours, something which normally wasn't acceptable, and the 'emergency' which had kept him away had proven to be nothing but a false alarm. He quickly made his way towards the chapel, running past a few nuns who giggled at seeing the usually composed father in such a hurry, as if he was a boy who was late for school.

One of the nuns, standing out in the courtyard with her hands full of dirty laundry, was Rosette Christopher, militia grade exorcist and technically a satanist as she had formed a contract with a demon. Said demon now came running up to her from the dormitory of the order.

"Rosette!" He called out. "Where have you been I've been looking all over for you."

"Oh... nowhere, you really don't need to be so worried about me you know." She said, giving him a smile.

"It's not really you I'm worried about, it's everybody else." He retorted playfully. "What's with that smile... you're up to something... I can see it."

Scouting around her to see that no others were in immediate hearing range, her smile widened a bit.

"No," answered the voice of father Remington.

"What?" Chrno asked a bit bewildered. She hadn't moved her mouth, but the voice had come from her nonetheless, and her mischievous smile indicated that she was definitely up to no good. "Alright, what are you hiding there." The laundry was covering something, and he was going to find out what it was. Removing the mix of beddings and clothing revealed a little rectangular black box in her hands with a few white buttons on the side and some round green ones on the face. He recognized it instantly.

"Rosette, that's the elder's recording device, he just finished that. It's been missing for days now, did you just... steal that?"

"Oh... I wouldn't say steal." She replied with an innocent smile. "Just borrowed it a little for the sake of the greater good."

He tried pushing one of the green buttons, which apparently she didn't mind.

"You need to go to the crossing between 30th street and 4th avenue quick, it's an emergency!" It was the voice of an agitated sister Kate, sending someone out on a mission.

He tried pushing another.

"The meek shall inherit the earth."

"So you've recorded Kate... and Remington during mass... seriously Rosette, what have you been up to?" The demon inquired.

"Oh nothing too bad..." She grabbed his arm and started to run towards where the cars were parked, dragging him after her, and leaving the dirty laundry on the ground. "Come we need to get to Washington Square Park right away."

"Why? Have you got an assignment?" He almost knew the minute he asked the question that she didn't.

"No, this is something much better." She grinned. This was going to be great.

**THE END

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So that's the second confession. I know it's fairly similar in construction to the first and I will be trying to make it a bit more interesting the next chapter, I was just inspired by the phone pranks made with movie samples (in this case it wasj ust Rosette pressing buttons), and it was fairly funny to see just how few 'samples' I could use and still make a confession which Satella believed to be genuine even though she thought it was strange.

In some mysterious way, which I can't quite figure out, reviews tend to make me a happier person, so if you should wish to contribute to that I will indeed be very grateful.


	3. Lust and Greed

Author's chit-chat:

WEEE... this Author is much more happy than he was when he posted last (another fic) because he has actually gotten his computer up and running again, and he only needed to buy a new harddisk and cabinet since a friend gave him a new/old motherboard, which means that it cost him less than (the equivalent of) 200 dollars in total. This means that he can still eat food, and he is happy enough to refer to himself in 3rd person. He wants to go higher, but referring to oneself in 4th person is impossible even for God (only Chuck Norris can do this – expert linguists have yet to find out how this is achieved).

Now it's time for another confession, and this time we bring a true pervert into the confessional. If you are a person with high moral standards this chapter may possibly offend you somewhat, but 'normal' healthy-minded fanfic readers should not expect any greater shock.

Disclaimer: Author doesn't even _want_ to own the character in this story (except maybe to freak out rabid fangirls by unleashing him upon them... hmm...)

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Tales From The Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 3 – Lust and Greed

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"Forgive me father, for I have... sinned." The voice from the confesser's seat revealed that the man who currently occupied it was not in the prime of his life anymore. However, it displayed an evident enthusiasm, implying that he still had quite a bit of time left, and the motivation to put it to good use. "It has been one week since my last confession." 

The rustling sound of a priest's robe was interrupted by a male voice. "Really...?" The voice was most definitely not surprised.

"Yes." The old man rested his hands in his lap on top of the small brown envelope he had carried around. A little smile crossed his lips as the memory of what he would be confessing shortly flooded through his mind. "I have been spying on the young nuns in the convent... again."

"Is that so...?" Again the voice carried a bit of sarcasm. This traditional routine was a bit silly, since the priest knew where this confession would bear – the same as every time this man confessed. But maybe the old lecher felt that doing this the proper way gave him some form of absolution, even though he would be right back to square one as soon as he got out again. "So tell me... what is it this time?"

"Well I happened to sneak up on a couple of girls... more precisely Mary and Louise as they were tending the gardens..." Now his thoughts began to drift back. "I crept silently up behind them, while they were busy weeding, and I got a good glimpse under Louise's dress before I was noticed... those shapely legs... those lightly tanned smooth thighs illuminated by the morning sun... barely hidden by the thin stockings... and the weather was warm so they were wearing their short bloomers..."

"Yes, yes." the priest interrupted. "What else?" When the old guy first got going like this he could rant on forever.

"Well... yes, I also managed to sneak a peek at sister Claire when she was changing clothes in her room... She had no idea that I hid outside, and could get a good view of everything from the crack between the curtains of her window... she may seem a bit dull and reserved, but... hooohh boy... when she takes those clothes off and stand in nothing but her underwear..." The old inventors eyes closed as he reveled in the memory. "She even began to pose a bit for the mirror... first one side... then the other... her long brown hair spilling luxuriously down her slender back... the curves of her hips swaying back and forth when she changed her pose..."

"Ahem..." the priest interrupted again. The lecher sure had a tendency for drifting, and what was worse was the way he described it...

"Of course... of course..." the old man responded. "Now where was I... oh yes..." Now his voice rose a bit with newfound eagerness. "Then a few nights ago... I accidentally took a ladder and climbed up to the window to Christie's room..." With a little lick he wet his lips as he allowed himself to become lost in this memory. "It was late... twelve o'clock at least... and everybody was asleep – including Christie... from outside I could see her in the pale moonlight, as she lay there in her bed with her loose auburn hair flowing onto the pillow and over the edge of the bed... It was a hot night too, you know, so she didn't even sleep in her nightgown – only her bloomers... and nothing else..." a small sigh escaped the lips of the old peeper. It was met with a silence from the priest's side of the confessional. "In her sleep she must have cast off her blanket too, because her entire upper body and one of her legs were clearly exposed to my thankful eyes. The moonlight illuminated her body most tenderly, and her breasts... her stomach... she looked so soft... so defenseless... I could almost see the thin film of sweat which must have covered her body due to the heat... oh the riches I would have given for a touch... a taste..."

The priest coughed in order to drag the old man out of of the fantasy once again. This was definitely turning into one of the more... vivid... confessions.

"Oh... I'm most terribly sorry... I think I got a bit carried away there... but can you blame me for admiring the beauty of God's most beautiful creatures...?" Again he seemed to almost enter into a trance as another memory went through his mind. "I was even so lucky that I found a way to look through the ventilation system... ahh... the girl's shower's... such a... sacred... place it is..."

"You didn't...?" Came the immediate comment from the priest, and by the sound of his words one could deduct that his eyes had opened quite a bit now.

"Ohh... but I did..." The words were dragged out very slowly. "Such an amazing sight... I saw sister Anna and sister Julia taking a shower... they were chatting... giggling... talking about this and that... and all the while I could hear the water spilling as it flowed down their wonderful bodies... seeing how they soaked themselves and watching as the white bubbles of soap... oh the pain I would endure to be one of those little soap bubbles... traveling down that slender neck and down in between those wonderfully shaped breasts... further down one of those taut stomachs... to the space between the legs and flowing smoothly down the inner side of that milky white thigh... I would be washed away and forgotten... but that voyage across that exquisite body... oh how I envied those little bubbles..."

The priest had become deadly silent by now.

"It's not that the sight wasn't enchanting in itself... I tell you it was a vision of hypnotic power... touching the very core of my old heart... but... it was not nearly as... mesmerizing as that of another girl I saw later..."

Still no sound came from the priest.

"It was our infamous hothead... Rosette Christopher... and she was going to take a shower... alone..." Again the old man leaned his head backwards and closed his eyes. "When she took off her clothes it was... overwhelming. Her legs... so shapely... her hair flowing so smoothly downwards... barely touching her shoulders... her stomach... so toned yet so womanly soft... her breasts... her face... her hips... every part of her body begging to be looked at... to be caressed... and then she went to the shower..."

The silence from the priest was shortly interrupted by a muffled cough followed by a hesitant 'go on...'

"As the water started flowing, her hair clung to her neck and her upper back... she leaned her head back and started massaging shampoo into it, and I saw all those little bubbles of white begin to flow down her back and over her softly looking posterior and down the back of her thighs and calves... those lucky sons of bitches – excuse me father. Then she began to soap in her upper body... her slender shoulders... her smooth neck... her rich and full chest..." An audible sigh escaped the old man as he sunk deeper into the memory. "Applying soap to her arms... her calves... her thighs... between her thighs... I believed I had died and gone to heaven... And then she took the razor she had brought with her, and she shaved the pits under her arms, not that I could see anything which needed to be shaved..." The old man smiled a serene smile as he continued. "But she didn't stop there... apparently she became... adventuresome... and she thought of somewhere else on her body where she could use the razor... if you know what I mean father..."

A loud 'gulp' indicated that the priest very much knew what the elder was referring to.

"She looked around first... what she was about to do obviously embarrassed her a bit... and she turned a dark shade of red and bit her lower lip when she began... ohh... the purity of such a beautiful young woman cautiously venturing into something for the first time... I could have died a happy man, father... she was very careful... almost apprehensive... and she didn't remove all of it... merely... shaped it so it would look more... appealing I suppose...but I doubt even God himself, pardon the choice of words father, could make her more appealing than she already was..." The elder was almost completely lost in thought, and his even breathing implied that he was truly at peace now.

Silence descended on the confessional, the priest was a bit overwhelmed with all the images the elder had described and it took him a full thirty seconds to come with a response. "Is that... it...?" The question sounded quite stupid, considering the... vivacity of the confession.

"Yes... that is all," the elder replied with a smug little smile.

"So..." The priest seemed a bit hesitant to speak, as if he was contemplating something, perhaps his mind needed to digest that all of these... situations dealt with the young nuns of the convent. Girls... young women whom he encountered every day.

"How much...?"

"Five dollars," was the old man's response. His smile widened.

The little hatch linking the two small rooms opened and a hand with five one-dollar bills reached out. "You're becoming expensive, you know that?"

"Well, I did make some improvements to the device. It now produces pictures of even better quality with more color and detail." The elder reached for the five dollars and gave the brown envelope in return. "Besides, it's me who gets beat up, when I'm discovered."

"You're right," the priest responded. "And it's all here...?"

"Every single bit, father."

"And that concerning Rosette...?"

"Also there."

"You think it has something to do with..."

"The rumors about her and Chrno?" The elder intervened. "Most definitely, I don't think either of them has acted on it yet, but it's as clear as day that something is there, and when something _does _happen..." The 'entreprenuer' smiled again. "I'll be sure to be around... but those will cost you."

"Alright..." The priest sounded a bit preoccupied now.

Again the confessional fell silent for several seconds. The silence was broken by the elder knocking on the wall separating the two rooms. "Aren't you forgetting something, father?"

"What... Oh yes... just... do twenty Hail Marys and twenty All Fathers."

"Ok, father," the elder said as he got up and exited the small confines of the confessional. "Don't forget to do your own."

"Oh, I won't."

**THE END

* * *

**

Seriously... those priests and their dirty little secrets – and who else but our very own patron saint of perverts would be better to grasp this golden opportunity and make some money this way. Though, I must admit that I'm getting a bit appalled by how immoral these so called 'holy' people actually are... oh wait... I made them do this... nevermind hehe.

So while you leave me a little review (yeah you know you want to), I'll get back to unveiling more secrets from the sinful society that is the New York branch of the Magdalene Order.


	4. Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Gluttony and

Hello to all confession-readers. First of all sorry for having taken my time with updating, but I have actually been really busy with things outside of the fanfic world recently (yeah, I'm pretending to have some sort of life). But of course I hadn't given up on this one, since I'm still missing a few key 'confessioneers'.

Oh and I also want to mention that I have begun writing another story which is an M-rated 'epic' (in the sense that it will definitely go above the 100K word count), and it wants to be read. Maybe it seems a bit cheap to mention it like this, but I kinda have a hope that the story will be read by a fair amount of people, and well... if I don't do a little advertising for myself... who will?

Disclaimer: Uhm... well... can't think of anything to say really... guess I just don't pwn then (urgh... author is very ashamed of that one).

PS: This chapter has actually been ready for several days now, but the damn site didn't let me upload new documents until now (grumbles).

* * *

Tales from the Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 4 – Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Gluttony and... Curiosity?

* * *

"Forgive me father... for I have sinned." The meek voice sounded truly regretful, and judging from the pitch, the speaker could not be very old. 

"What's troubling you, my child." The friendly voice of an elderly priest responded.

"Well... I sort of skipped rehearsal a few days ago..." By just listening to the tone in the young girl's words, one could practically hear her gaze boring into the floor. "It was... it was just so nice and warm and sunny and Chrno and Rosette had the day off from work, so I wanted to spend the day with them, because they were going downtown to look at the shops, and see how everyone was preparing for the Fourth of July. I didn't mean to... I mean... I know it was wrong to skip rehearsal..." Her voice trailed off.

"But you still did it. Even though you knew it was wrong, you did it in order to be together with your friends." The priest didn't sound reproving, it was almost as if he was merely summing up what the young girl tried to say.

"Yes... B-but It's just... sometimes I feel... left out. I sometimes feel... like I'm not really a part of..." The voice died down again.

"The friendship?" The priest asked gently.

"Well... yes... and no." The girl continued. "I know that they're my friends and all... b-but... there's so much between them... that I'm not a part of... and I just..."

"Are you jealous, that they're close?" The priest's voice inquired, and the question was met with silence.

"Are you?"

"Uhmm..."

She obviously didn't feel comfortable answering that.

"M-maybe...?"

Apparently she wasn't sure herself.

"B-but it's not that I want to come between them or anything, because I really like seeing how happy they are together, and I think they deserve it, with Rosette's life ticking away and everybody being so scared of Chrno and them searching so hard for her brother and Chrno not being allowed to..."

And that started a minutes worth of rambling.

"I guess..." she slowed down her speech a bit. "I think... I just want to have what they have..."

"My child." The priest spoke calmingly. "That which you have just described is something all humans would like to have at some point in their life. But, you are still young, with plenty of time ahead of you – you really shouldn't worry about that yet." Again his response was met with silence, and the priest used the pause to ask the customary ending question of the confession. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes... I wasn't very happy when I went to town with Chrno and Rosette because... well I still felt a bit... left out... and when I met at the next rehearsal I felt really bad because I had skipped the last one and... well... all those other things..." She drew in an audible breath before continuing. "And then one of the other girls started saying I ruined the whole rehearsal because they needed me for a big part..." The girl held a little pause. "She started to yell at me... telling me I was selfish and lazy and... and I just got so mad at her b-because... what does _she_ know?" The girl's frustration and agitation now showed clearly in the increased volume of her voice. "S-so I yelled back... and I called her all kinds of things I can't remember... something about her being stupid and ugly and that I was a much better singer than she would ever be and..." She trailed off again. "I... I made her run out crying..." Her guilty conscience was evident, and once again she fell silent.

"Have you talked to her since then?"

"Yes I have... I felt really, really bad 'cause she's only 10 years old... and I shouldn't have said all those nasty things... because she was right about me being selfish... So I found her again and said that I was sorry..."

"That is good. Asking for forgiveness from those you have wronged is the first thing you must do, if you truly wish to be forgiven."

"But I still feel really bad for doing it..."

"That is understandable. You let yourself be controlled by your negative feelings, and that is something we must all strive to avoid. But you also responded in the right way afterwards, and you should remember that, as it will help you in taking the correct course of action in the future." The priest paused for a second before asking the potentially final question a second time. "So... anything else?"

"Well..." She took a few seconds to think. "I was really hungry at supper yesterday, and there were these really big yummy chocolate chip cookies for desert so... I sort of took more than we were allowed, and I didn't even think that there might not be enough for everyone... so I think... I feel bad about that also..."

"Well... you shouldn't have done that." Now one could almost hear the priest smiling at the banality of the 'sin'. "If somebody didn't get a cookie for desert they would become sad don't you think?"

"Yes... I know..."

"Anything else?" Maybe the third time would be the charm.

"Hmmm... let me think... I don't think... no... no I don't think there's any more."

"Then I shall grant you the Lord's forgiveness." The priest said. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

"Thank you."

"And do five Rosemary decades."

"Okay. I will." The pitch of the girl's voice had increased almost an octave – it was obvious that she was in much better spirits. Shortly afterwards followed the slightly creaking sound of a door opening after which came a 'bonk', indicating that the apostle had now left the confessional.

_CLICK..._

"That one was boring don't you think? But then again it was only Azmaria."

"Seriously... It's really not very nice of you to do this... first of all Elder is still missing his sound recording device, and it's pretty mean that you're listening to all those people's confessions."

"Would you listen to yourself..." The gold haired youth turned around, and sat up on the bed. She eyed the demon sitting next to the bed with obvious disapproval. "Stop feeling so guilty about everything will ya? It's not like we're hurting anybody. Not when we're the only ones listening to it anyway. And besides, now we've found out that Azmaria feels a bit left out, so maybe we can do something about that without her needing to know. Ever thought about that?" A little smile crossed her lips. "And I _know _you thought sister Kate's confession about her 'special someone' was funny too."

"But that's exactly what I'm talking about. If Kate finds out about this, you're gonna be in more trouble than you've ever been before. You should seriously consider erasing those things before that happens."

"Don't you think I would if I knew how to? I don't even think this thing can erase – it probably wasn't even finished when I took it... stupid Elder."

"Well, that's what you get for stealing it out of his lab. But still... I don't think it's right to peek into people's privacy like this. What would you say if you found out that somebody did that to you?"

"Alright, alright... geez for a big bad demon you're such an oilcan sometimes... a leaky one too."

"I just don't like seeing you get into trouble."

"Don't worry I won't... say I'll make a deal with you... let's just hear one more confession and then we stop... ok?"

"Sure... whatever..." It wasn't exactly a deal, but why bother arguing?

With a grin the exorcist turned back towards the black box on the bed. Laying down flat on her stomach, she pressed one of the white buttons on the side of the contraption.

_CLICK..._

"Forgive me father, for I have... sinned." The voice from the recording device revealed that the man who was currently speaking was not in the prime of his life anymore. However, it displayed an evident enthusiasm, implying that he still had quite a bit of time left, and the motivation to put it to good use. "It has been one week since my last confession."

"OH! Can you hear who this is? This one has _got_ to be interesting!" Rosette burst out cheerfully, as she turned her head to look at her partner again.

Chrno rolled his eyes. Of course he could recognize the old guy's voice.

**THE END...?

* * *

**

Gosh... pardon my language but... Oh shit...

This will not turn out pleasant I think.

Now it is left as a simple exercise for the reader to envision how the good miss Christopher's facial expression and Chrno's blush/nosebleed will evolve as this particular confession progresses (I presume you know which one it is). In the meantime I'll try to figure out some way to continue this story without reducing the Magdalene Order to rubble and ruins.

And please review too, although I won't be able to reply to any reviewers right away, since it's time for the Roskilde Festival to start. This means that I get to spend a week of my life listening to live rock music, sleeping in a tent, and consuming obscene amounts of alcohol (which my body certainly will get mad at me for). But I'll reply after the festival is over.


	5. Lust, Wrath or Prudence

Words from a would-be author:

Alrighty peeps, it's time for another confession. And I know how everyone out there has been simply dying to find out what's going to happen next inside those strange little wooden confines... oh... you haven't... not even a little... damn so much for my ability to entice an audience.

Anywho I have a feeling that this confession has been one of the more... anticipated... so I'll stop my rambling now and get to the actual story.

And thank you all who have taken the time to review. 50 reviews so far... that's halfway to that magical three digit number :D

Disclaimer: No... it's mine... you hear me... it's... MINE! HEY... GIVE THAT BACK... crap...

* * *

Tales from the Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 5 – Lust, Wrath or Prudence

* * *

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned." 

"Uhm..." The middle-aged priest sounded surprised at the very least. "And... uhh... what do you need forgiveness for my..." He didn't really know how to address the one in the confessional. "Child...?" That word came out in a less than happy tone, and the priest frowned immediately after saying it.

"Well... quite a bit I suppose, but that's unimportant right now." The voice was calm and it even 'shrugged' audibly.

"What? You can't just come in here and ask for forgiveness without confessing your sins." Sternness rose in the voice of the priest, displaying both zeal and righteousness. He was _not_ the sinner in here. "You have to say your sins out loud and repent, otherwise you might as well just leave again, and go back to where you came from."

"My sins..." The calm voice replied again. "Are numerous and ghastly, and I doubt that I shall live long enough to recite all the Hail Marys and All Fathers required for me to gain even the slightest bit of absolution." A little smirk crossed the speaker's lips. "Some of us are simply bound to stay sinners, father, and for someone like me, there will be no true redemption. Besides..." He leaned backwards and exhaled with a little sigh. "I don't believe you want to sit here for the rest of the day, _and_ the night as well, listening to my tales."

"Then why are you here." The priest almost growled, he felt like he was being dragged around in this conversation by the insolent bastard on the other side. "State your business, or leave... Immediately!"

"I am here... father." The sinner leaned forward and folded his hands – almost as if he was praying. "Because there is one sin which I _have _to confess. It is not with my own consent, but I have no choice."

"Then get on with it." Patience was a virtue, which was _not_ in high regard at this moment.

"As we both know, I have been living here for some time now." The words were spoken very evenly and with a pace which displeased the minister greatly. "During that time I have become acquainted with several people – some more than others."

"Yes?"

"One of those people came up to me a little while ago and made an offer..." He couldn't help smiling at his deliberate slow speech – annoying the self-righteous just never got old. "The sort of offer which... is hard to refuse."

"And?" The priest was getting really irritated now.

"Well... the offer was, that I would help him with a few of his... 'excursions'... if you catch my meaning."

Considering who was talking and the way he pronounced the word 'excursions', the priest could easily deduce who had made the offer. After all the inventor was one of the few who consorted with the demon. "And, what did that entail?"

"Nothing much actually... just keeping watch, making sure no one would walk in on him when he did... his thing. And for my troubles I would get paid... in pictures."

"Pictures...?" The tone immediately switched to curious.

"Yeah... pictures... fairly... indecent pictures I would say" Crimson eyes gained color and brightness as their owner was overcome by a mental image. An image of a young honey blonde girl taking a shower, soaping in her body, letting the water spill over her golden hair and milky white shoulders. Her eyes closed, her face tranquil, the bubbly droplets running slowly down the pearly skin of her neck, chest, stomach...

warm...

wet...

soft...

argh...

He quickly shook his head in order to get the intruding visions out of his mind again, '_dammit'_. He hated how he couldn't keep them out of his head – it prevented him from staying focused – in fact _she_ was beginning to prevent him from staying focused.

"And... uhm..." The priest asked. "About those pictures..."

"Well, let's just say that... they depicted some of the female occupants of this institution, in a way that they, and the authorities in here, would disapprove strongly of." He really tried to block out the visions which kept creeping in behind his eyes. The fact that it was completely dark within the confessional didn't help one single bit.

"I see..." The priest sounded thoughtful. "And your reason for confessing this particular sin is?"

He shifted in his seat a bit uncomfortably. "I kinda... ended up with the back against the wall... Actually I was in what could be called, severe danger of being uncovered by someone I did _not_ want to be uncovered by."

"And?"

"I decided to take matters into my own hands. Since it seemed as if I could not prevent this thing from getting out in the open, I went to sister Kate and told her everything."

"Everything?" There was a bit of a surprise in the voice.

"Yes... all of it, about the pictures, about the way they were taken, and for what use they were intended. I wanted Kate to hear about it from me before she heard about it from anybody else – presumably that would get me through this whole affair with the least amount of damage to myself."

"And her reaction was?" The priest encouraged the confessioneer onwards.

"Not... pleasant. In fact I have never seen her scream and shout so much in my life before... and that's saying a lot. I thought she was going to explode... literally. She didn't however, and after calming down a bit she made a deal with me. The deal was: A – I would disclose who the photographer was so she could 'talk' to him. B – I would go to confession and confess this sin. And C – I would tell about all this to the offended parties – that is the girls in the pictures – and ask their forgiveness. If I didn't comply with all three I would be kicked out of the order immediately. So far I have done A, and I believe the person in question is within sister Kate's office at this moment, being interrogated about the whereabouts of the rest of the photographs. Being in here means that I am currently doing B, and that leaves C as the only thing left for me to do." The confessioneer let out a heavy breath, and slumped a bit in his seat – now he had done his part here.

"Uhm..." The priest said clearly not knowing how to respond. "That is... uh... reasonable I guess..." His voice seemed a bit fidgety. "I don't suppose there's anything more to confess then is there?"

"No that is all."

"Well then... do eh... ten All Fathers and fifty Hail Marys, and you will be forgiven." The priest seemed to want to end the confession now.

"You're not supposed to do some form of rite?"

"Oh yes... of course, how stupid of me to forget." The minister cleared his throat loudly. "God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The absolution rite was spoken quite hurriedly.

"Thank you father." The confessioneer said slowly.

"Yes... ahem... see you another time?"

"Perhaps..."

The door to the confessional opened and out stepped a purple haired, crimson eyed demon sinner, who looked a bit like a boy in his early teens. It was a pretty good disguise, as his mind was definitely occupied with thoughts which were more appropriate for someone a bit older. His facial expression revealed nothing of what went on inside his head right now however. He quickly made it to the entrance of the chapel where there was a phone hanging – intended for emergencies. The exorcist pack with the portable phone he usually carried around, was in Rosette's custody right now, so he could easily get a hold of her. Chrno let out a little sigh, picked up the hook and dialed the number.

A female voice, answered at the other end. "Rosette here."

"Hi, it's me."

"Hi..." The voice answered expectantly. "How did it go?"

"Uhm..." Chrno thought about this for a moment. "I don't really know..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rosette asked with a slight disapproval in her voice, even though she probably didn't intend it.

"Well, I'm just not sure about..." At this moment Chrno saw the priest open the confessional door, and literally storm out of the chapel, he darted past the demon without even noticing him – Chrno smiled. "Wait... scratch that. I'm _positive_ he's one of them."

"Uhh... what made you change your mind?"

"He just ran out of the chapel, as if he had the very hounds of hell snapping at his butt."

"Oh... that's the third one Chrno." Rosette didn't sound well at all... almost scared. "Who was it again?"

"Father Abrams."

"Father _Abrams_... ewww... to think that... I've been in some of his classes..." The exorcist held her breath a bit before continuing in a meek voice. "I think I'm gonna be sick, Chrno."

"Hey. Consider this: You got everything back from both father Mckenzie and father O'connelly – or should I say ex-fathers. You_ also _made sure that they'll never set foot in the order again, and father Abrams will soon be heading the same way. Besides he was the last on the to-do list so there are no more suspects."

"Yeah... I'm just... it's just so... I feel all naked and..."

"So does the other girls, but you can't let that get that get to you right now. Are the others there too?"

"Yeah... Mary, Christie, Angela, Claire, Anna and all the others are just down the hall waiting..." There was a pause in her words "Chrno...?"

"Yeah?"

"I just... I want to say thank you for doing this."

"It's no problem."

"No... don't brush it aside like that... I really mean it. You have gone to every priest there is, and made them believe all those nasty things about you, and you've lied during confession, and you can't ever tell the real truth because then they might get to know about the recording device, and that could get me in so much trouble, and it must be so embarrassing for y..."

"Rosette!" Chrno broke in.

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling."

"Sorry... I know... I just want you to know that I really appre..."

"Stop it..." The sinner intervened. "It's jake... really... most of these priests didn't think too highly about me in the first place, and I could care less about their thoughts of me now. Furthermore I don't mind lying in the face of God, and as far as my so-called pride goes... well, I have no qualms about sacrificing that for you."

"..."

Chrno's little speech was met with the most thunderous silence he had ever heard in his life, coming from the other end of the phone – almost as if every sound was being sucked right in and quenched. It persisted for a few seconds before he decided to break it by speaking again.

"Rosette?"

"Yeah?"

"Abrams ran out of here a little while ago – presumably to get rid of the evidence – and you're not going to catch him red-handed by sitting around not speaking on the phone."

"Right..."

"And Rosette."

"Yeah?"

"Give 'im hell."

"I will..." From the tone of those words Chrno sensed that a smile had crossed her lips.

He waited for the click indicating that his contractor had put down the phone again. It came a bit later than he would have thought, as if she was slightly hesitant to hang up.

Poor Abrams... He was about to enter a world of hurt now – not that the demon felt much sympathy for the man.

The plan had worked perfectly, Mckenzie and O'Connelly had resigned for undisclosed reasons, and with the last 'buyer' out in the open it was now time for the mastermind behind the whole enterprise to be exposed, which could even mean showing the pictures to Kate who so far had been unaware of...

pictures...

Again Chrno was assaulted by a merciless stream of images depicting Rosette in the shower... bathing... washing... shav... He hit himself hard in his temple in an attempt to force them out of his head – it just wasn't right. They had started that fateful day where he had heard that confession. Or rather, he had heard up to the part where his survival instincts had forced him to run for cover out in the hall. Rosette had afterwards charged out of her room and only his demon strength (plus a 4-inch wooden door he had just managed to lock and bar in front of her) had enabled him to stop the rampaging girl. After he had opened the door again she had explained – eyes filled with tears of fury and speaking very incoherently – that elder actually had sold pictures of everything to the priest.

At that moment the demon's mind was torn between thoughts of slaughtering the entire priesthood and envisioning nude photographs of the girl in front of him – VERY confusing. Luckily he had been able to keep his head cool, and come up with the plan to root out the culprits. But the mental images of a showering Rosette had proven to be extremely persistent – always managing to come forth at the worst possible times – and they didn't seem inclined to leave him again anytime soon.

_'Damn...'_

Chrno looked at the little innocently-looking wooden construction inside the chapel – well if he should ever decide to give a genuine confession he would sure as hell _not_ do it within the Magdalene Order.

That confessional was home to waaay too many things.

**THE END

* * *

**

There you have it... a confession from our very own demon sinner, I hope it worked out to everyones satisfaction. At least I managed to sort out the little photography subplot – or I think I did. But you can as always leave me a review telling me what you think about the way I decided to resolve it.


	6. Every little Sin

Author's musings: Well hello and welcome back to the confessional. I know I've taken an extended break, but I hope that everyone who's been waiting to hear another confession can find it in their hearts to forgive this unproductive writer (you know forgiveness _is _a major theme in this fic).

I'd like to give credit to a reviewer of mine, who actually gave me the inspiration to write this chapter... I'm not telling who the reviewer is, as it would give away part of the chapter, but after having read this it should be obvious who the person in question is. So thank you for the inspiration, and a big thanks to every reviewer of this story.

* * *

Tales from the Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 6 – Every little Sin

* * *

This was... 

A nightmare...

A hellish nightmare was the only description which came just a little close to the truth.

He cast himself against the wall.

The only effect was a hollow 'thump'.

And a sore shoulder.

He was trapped... caged... locked within some form of dark sadistic trap which not even Pandemonium herself could have been cruel enough to device. The blackness was all around him, it entered every pore in his body... his soul... it cut through him and filled his mind with visions of pain...

Claws scraped against the confines in a futile attempt to get out... why couldn't he just break free... why did he have to be trapped in here... why was he so weak?

Tears began forming in the corner of his eyes, and his movements became faster and more desperate. His hands were raw and bloodied. A trail of thick liquid caking the wall was the only evidence of his frantic struggle...

"LET ME OUT!"

No response... nothing... not even a single sound entered his prison... he was completely alone...

Alone in the cage...

So small... so endlessly small and dark... and horrible...

He couldn't even stretch his arms... the distance from one wall to the other was only three or four feet or so... they smothered him...

_Did they just move closer...?_

caved in on him...

_They did._

Vicious faces from the past appeared in the blackness...

_They're going to crush me..._

Laughing...

_I don't want to die like this!_

mocking...

_I DON'T WANNA DIE!_

He burrowed his head in his hands, sobbing hopelessly.

"Help..."

He was so weak... he had no strength left, no energy... it had all been depleted, and every second more was drained from him... how could they still drain him... when there was nothing left?

He coughed.

It hurt... it hurt so much, every part of his body screamed and writhed in pain... his throat burned, his chest ached, his legions were dying by the millions...

And the walls...

Oh God the walls...

They kept coming closer.

How could God let something like this exist... how could he be so silent...

He knew why.

God didn't care.

The walls came closer...

He never had.

He was just a spectator, carelessly viewing this cruel world he had created. This unjust, unfair, unfeeling world where evil wasn't punished, good wasn't rewarded, and everybody looked out for themselves only.

The walls came closer...

Why was he getting punished...? So many wrong things in the world... Did he deserve this any more than others... everyone was selfish... why only him...?

The walls came closer...

They were going to kill him, they were going to keep coming closer until they squashed him completely... he was going to die horribly... a suffocating, crushing, nightmarish death...

"HELP!"

He hammered on the small door. Using every ounce of strength he had still left. He pounded with his fists, his elbows, his shoulders, his head, he clawed and scraped, he bit, he kicked...

Nothing happened...

Sobbingly he dropped to the floor, but there wasn't even room enough for that so he ended up with his back against a wall...

He jumped away from the wall – fear evident in his movements – and slammed into the wall on the opposite side, immediately he jumped back again as tears ran down his cheeks...

_They weren't this close before..._

He was trapped...

_No they've come closer..._

He was going to die...

_They keep coming closer..._

Die inside these frighteningly small confines.

_They're gonna kill me!_

Succumb to a death which terrified him more than anything ever had.

Tears again welled up in his violet eyes, and he hid his head inside his long platinum hair, trying desperately to escape from the horrifying and deadly prison... imagining an endless open field... with an infinite sky, a horizon which could not be reached, and no boundaries anywhere...

Like a baby he cried helplessly as he tried to escape to his dream...

His happy place...

All he had wanted...

"Help..."

Was freedom...

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"So tell me..." A slight frown was evident beneath the blond hair covering most of the priest's forehead. The ghostly glow of a cross barrier was mirrored in his blue eyes; he regarded the confessional bathed in the light of the holy force field. "Why is..."

"HELP!" He was interrupted by a terrified shriek coming from inside the little wooden construction. The scream was followed by a loud pounding sound and it caused him to pause momentarily.

"You were saying?" Asked the white haired man standing beside him.

"Why... is this necessary?" The question had been on his mind ever since Aion had been put inside the small confines, but so far he had not received any answer.

"Ah... a splendid question, and one that I do not mind answering now..." It was a cryptic response, and the smile on the old inventors face revealed that he did not mind dragging out this response either.

"Well then get on with it." Remington's frown increased slightly, and the tone of his voice indicated impatience. "If... you do not mind."

"Well..." A wrinkled hand came up to scratch the owners temple. "Aion has remade Heaven and Pandemonium. Pandemonium is filled with light, heaven with darkness. This all started when he killed his mother... Pandemonium herself."

"I know that..." Remington rolled his eyes. "We all do, now tell me something I don't know."

"The killing of Pandemonium was a sin, and Aion was therefore dubbed a sinner. But not just any ordinary sinner. He was THE sinner, the sinner above all, the sinner whose sin remade that which God himself had created... do you see what I'm getting at?"

"I think so... if he were to confess that sin..." The militia class exorcist narrowed his eyebrows, apparently he was doing a lot of thinking right now.

"Yes...?" The Elder sounded very encouraging.

"And get absolution, then the sin would be forgiven... and cease to be a sin... is that it?"

"Exactly!" Dexterous hands clapped once in a sign approval and enthusiasm. "And then the light and darkness could revert to where they belong."

"Seems a bit far fetched." The priest frowned again.

"Well it's not stranger than how many other things work in this world."

"I suppose not... how did you know that Aion suffered from a galloping case of claustrophobia by the way?"

"An educated guess..." The Elder shrugged and continued in a secretive whisper. "His insane obsession with freedom sort of gave me a hint ya know."

"I see... so how much lon..."

Again the minister's speech was interrupted by the voice from inside the confessional. It didn't scream this time, or seemed angry. Instead it cried... a whining, helpless, heartwrenching sound much like the crying of a little boy who had become lost from his parents.

The Elder smiled again. "I'd say he's about ready now."

Remington had to agree. However much resentment he had for Aion, hearing an archdemon cry like that was just too pitiful.

The blond minister walked towards the confessional, and stepped into the priest's side.

Immediately after getting in, there was a ruckus from the other side, and Remington saw a pair of bloody hands grip the little grate separating the two rooms. An agonized and somewhat insane-looking face followed a few seconds afterwards, pressed towards the grate and staring at him with pleading eyes. "Please... let me out of here... please... I promise I won't be bad..." The words were chopped up by sobs and sniffles. "I'll do anything... just let me out... please..."

Remington took a deep breath. This was just too strange. "You know what you have to do to get out."

"I... Yes... I do..." A loud sob came from the opposite room, and the hands and face disappeared from the grate. Several seconds of silence followed – Remington figured that Aion needed the time to come to terms with abandoning his dream. "Forgive me... father..." There was a crying sound... the kind of sound indicating someone losing something precious to them. "For I have..." again a little cry interrupted the sentence. "Sinned."

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The elder whistled a bit to himself as he paced back and forth inside the chapel. It had already taking quite some time... over two hours, but maybe that was to be expected. Aion probably had more sins in his baggage than most, and getting through all of them...

There was a creaking sound.

Turning his eyes towards the confessional again he could see Remington stepping through the little wooden door. He went to meet him. "So... tell me..." He looked at the minister expectantly. "How did it go..."

"This is too crazy... I can't even remember all of it..." Remington took half a step backwards. His face was being severely scrutinized by the inventor who took half a step forward. "Oh you know I'm not allowed to say anything... It's supposed to be confi... arh to hell with it... he confessed everything... from the largest to the smallest... kidnapping Joshua... killing Pandemonium... getting the other sinners killed, ripping off Chrno's horns, he even confessed bullying other demons when he was young, stealing toys, verbally snapping at others, swatting fli... Hey what's so funny?"

"Ahaha..." The old man was overcome with a fit of laughing and chuckling, which took him quite a few seconds to snap out of. "This is simply too good... Just wait until Rosette hears this... she's going to love it."

"Yeah... yeah... that's great, so now everything should be in order right...?"

A big smile was plastered across the Elder's face, his gaze was locked on the priest.

Then he burst out laughing again.

Ewan Remington stared at his old friend who was doing an immensely poor job at controlling himself. Almost half a minute passed with the old man almost choking from laughter and the priest patiently waiting for a response.

"Well... hehe..." The Elder said after drying the tears away from his eyes. "At least the forces of heaven are not immune to being gullible either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Did you really think that everything would revert to normal if Aion confessed?" The old man inquired looking at the priest with a million dollar smile... ok maybe a ten dollar smile considering the state his teeth were in. "If you kill somebody and say you're sorry afterwards, do they come back to life?"

Remington stared completely perplexed. "But... why...? What was all this for... the confession... the barrier... I mean not that it was hard or anything. He was pretty easy to trap in there after Chrono had gotten his horns back and beaten the shit out of him." He let his hand run through his hair, scratching his scalp. "It just... served no purpose."

"No purpose?" The Elder exclaimed. "I wouldn't say so... we managed to take an immensely proud man, and caused him to forfeit everything he believed in, everything he stood for, everything he had ever dreamed of, reducing him to a sniveling wretch with no self esteem just by exploiting a little weakness. Now that... ma boy..." He put on an even brighter smile. "Is called entertainment."

A meek voice broke into the conversation. "I'd like to come out now... please..."

The militia exorcist shook his head. "You humans make demons seem like saints you know that?"

"Perhaps... anyway I will go and tell Rosette about this... might help me get on better terms with her."

The conversation was again interrupted... this time by a soft knocking sound. "Hello... can I come out...? Can you hear me...?"

Remington regarded the confessional shortly before shifting his eyes back towards the inventor. "What have you done to her now?"

The elder had already begun making his way out of the chapel. "Ah... you don't want to know." He said over his shoulder, before exiting the building, still chuckling to himself.

"Hello... I've done what you asked for... (sniffle) hello... do I need to say the prayers now...?"

Remington rolled his eyes, something needed to be done about Aion. Maybe he should go talk to sister Kate about it.

A little smile formed on his lips as he recalled what had happened the last time he had dropped by her office.

Oh... he should definitely go and 'discuss' this with Kate.

"Hello... (sob) please let me out... (sob) are you there... please say something..."

The blond minister walked hurriedly out as well, leaving the chapel empty.

Well... almost empty.

"Our father... (sob) which art in heaven... (sniffle) Hallowed be thy name..."

**THE END**

* * *

Well, I suppose that was a bit cruel... but what the hell... I think it's funny. The story is rapidly approaching the end, and as a matter of fact I have only gotten one more chapter planned. This means that I would love getting a review, since I wanna try and make it to those 100 reviews, and this story seems to be my best shot so far. So click the little button, tell me what you think, have a nice day, and see you for the upcoming 'grand finale' chapter. 


	7. Lust, Lust and Lust

Author's contemplation: So it's finally time to wrap up the trip to the confessional, I've been thinking very hard about how I was going to round it off, and the complete idea actually came to me over a week ago... the posting was delayed however partly by non-fanfic stuff, partly by chapters for other stories which wanted to be written as well, partly because I kept changing things in the chapter, and partly because I have been unable to upload documents (I found out that I could as long as I changed the format to txt however, and that's the reason why the chapter is up now). I feel the end result worked out fairly well and makes for the single most anticipated confession as well as the best chapter in the story (feel free to disagree on that last one). 

On another note, my alert-thingy seems to be working quite erratically, since I don't get review alerts for every review. Consequently this probably applies to other alerts as well (story, message etc.) so if you've sent me something which I was supposed to reply to and haven't, it's not because I'm trying to be rude – the site does a splendid job at being that for me (grumbles unintelligibly).

So thank you all who read, thank you all who review, thanks to fanfiction. net (even though it can be aggravating at times) for running this outlet for our more or less creative thoughts, and thanks to the CC creator Daisuke Moriyama for coming up with characters that I like writing about (you know... they're actually his).

Enjoy.

* * *

Tales from the Confessional

By Shnoosh

Chapter 7 – Lust, Lust, (bunch of boring sins), and Lust.

* * *

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned." 

It was the voice of a girl...

and not just any girl.

The voice happened to belong to a certain militia class exorcist, who had become quite infamous within the order. At first she was known as the blonde hothead who typically did more property damage than the demons she was supposed to protect the city from. After a while it became known that she had one of the most powerful demons in existence as her partner and – though nobody actually said so – suspected lapdog. Later still she became known for her crusade against – and eventually victory over – one who could have been dubbed the Antichrist himself. Even though she was still a teenage girl, her track record was indeed more remarkable than almost any within the history of the order.

"What did you destroy this time?"

The gentle voice, belonging to the priest, hinted of amusement. He was not just any priest either. Also a militia class exorcist he had probably completed more assignments, and turned more demons to worm food than any other single enforcer. Some might say that it was only natural since he had worked as an exorcist longer than any other – more than 50 years – but that did not change the fact that he still had the highest amount of solved cases almost every month. In his work and demeanor he was exactly opposite to girl in the confessional: Meticulous, thoughtful, and hardly ever without a plan. Furthermore he was nothing less than a certified angel. It was something which had been revealed to the order only recently, and it explained why he despite his age, still appeared just shy of thirty.

"HEY! Don't say it like that! I'm not always..." Rosette's words faded into silence, which in turn was broken by an annoyed muttering.

"Well..." She said after a little while. "Nothing big anyway... just some of sister Kate's teacups... I slipped when I tried to bring her some tea, and broke all the porcelain and spilled hot tea over her desk and her clothes and..."

The blond man raised an eyebrow – usually sister Kate didn't send militia to go fetch her tea.

"But I only did it because I wanted to be nice to her and apologize for the time I broke... arh dammit... can we skip the subject already?" The girl's voice had become increasingly irritated. "I didn't come here for that!"

Remington couldn't help smiling. "I said nothing."

"WELL, NO! I MEAN YES... no... I mean... you're still... arrgghhh..." Why the hell did she always get stuck in sentences she couldn't get out of?

Remington sighed. "Ok, so what _are_ you here for?" Having had a bit of fun on the blonde's account, it was probably time to get to the point. "If..."

He just couldn't help himself.

"...it's not the destruction of other people's property."

Some things just never got old.

"HEY! QUIT SAYING THAT! I'm not doing it on purpose, I'm just a bit clumsy sometimes! OKAY? I don't see that being under the list of mortal sins!" With an exasperated huff she crossed her arms.

Several seconds passed in silence (or almost silence considering Rosette's grumbling) before Remington decided that enough was enough. "Alright... I''m just messing with you, so what's on your mind... really."

Letting out the breath she had involuntarily held inside the youth uttered a displeased grunt before beginning to talk. "Well... I..."

Pause.

"...I kinda..."

Another pause.

"...I stole something."

"Yes?"

"It was something the elder had invented, and it wasn't even finished when I took it, I just thought it could be fun to use." Her voice still held a gruff quality, and she sounded like she really just wanted to leave.

"Well, stealing_ is_ on the list of the Ten Commandments, so that was definitely wrong, and you will have to give it back you know." He paused for a bit wondering what she had stolen, but it was not his place to ask. "So what else?"

"Well... I..." Her response dragged out. "Nah... that's about it."

"That's it?"

"Yeah..."

The was a little rustling sound, a click, and the grate slid aside. Remington's face appeared in the little hole, looking at the teenage girl in the adjacent room. She looked almost frightened, resembling someone who had taken an incredibly wrong turn, and was now trying very hard to get back.

"Seriously..." The blond militia man said. "I know you better than that. You didn't come here only to say that you've stolen something out of Elder's lab, just as you didn't come here to tell me that you've broken sister Kate's tea set, so tell me: What's. On. Your. Mind?"

Rosette stared pleadingly at the one who used to be her guardian and mentor within the order. What was on her mind?

The words had cut straight through her, and right now his gaze appeared to do the exact same thing. He was as close to reading her thoughts as one could get without actually doing it. What was on her mind?

Even though she had practiced hiding her emotions most of her life, she could never hide them from him. What was on her mind?

"Chrno..."

Her head dropped.

"What about him?" The priest asked gently.

"It's just..." A lump began to form in her throat and her lower lip quivered. "He's beaten Aion's, so Joshua's been brought back; and he has gotten his horns back, so he's using his full form more now." A vision of the demon entered her mind, and she found she couldn't let it go again... over six foot tall, he literally towered over her now, his long violet hair dancing in the wind as he would casually take a leisure flight... his dark wings stretched majestically like a great bird, his horns glowing softly with an inner warmth, his tanned and toned torso glistening in the sunlight, covered with tiny droplets of water, because he had just come out of a dive into a nearby lake... God... they ought to make a law against looking like that... it was just too much for her to handle...

And he had even taken her out flying too – simply because he could.

Sometimes though he would revert to his child-form, and he would be as easy-going and gentle as he always had been. Except in the morning... that annoyed her to no end, and as soon as she came to her senses after another aggravating awakening she would start chasing him with the intent of grinding his scalp into oblivion... those chases always ended in laughter... or at least that was how she remembered them: A childish game of tag she would never grow out of, as long as she could play it with him...

"I'm scared..." A little droplet tried to creep out of the corner of her left eye.

"You're scared... why?" Remington asked in his usual comforting voice.

"Because Joshua's back, and that means I don't need him anymore!"

She bit her lower lip – a bit too hard maybe.

"And he's gotten his horns back so he doesn't really need me..."

Her militia outfit was hopelessly twisted in her hands. She envisioned the brass clock which lay back in her room – still and cold – she remembered the mixed feeling of relief and loss when it died.

"And the thought of that... it scares me..."

Her voice lowered.

"It scares me..."

Remington looked at the blonde teenager through the open grate. She had grown up a lot during these past four years, in body and spirit alike, and she had actually grown quite beautiful in both of them as well. But the events in her life had hardened her exterior, and usually she did whatever she could to hide her feelings from others. Now was not one of those times, and the fact that she opened up to him like this, was heartwarming.

"I want..." She raised her head again, her eyes were glazed and a little dreamy smile graced her lips – definitely not the usual Rosette in there. "I want to need him..." She looked at the priest like a child does when asking a father for guidance. "I want him to need me..."

Remington smiled. "You do know what you're saying, right?"

"I know..." Her gaze returned to her lap. "And I know it's probably a huge sin in the views of the order, and I don't even know if demons can feel that way, It's just... I can't help it... I don't think I would even want to, if I had a choice."

Rosette too a deep breath...

"I think..."

closed her eyes...

"I..."

And braced herself.

"...love him."

Hmm...

She actually liked the sound of that.

And she wanted to hear it again.

"I love..." Funny... having said it out loud one time "...Chrno." it was much easier to say it again. Almost as if she had crossed some personal barrier by acknowledging the fact to herself.

Remington viewed the girl for a couple of seconds, before he returned to his seat. "Well, I'm not going to tell you exactly how to deal with Chrno, but letting him know one way or the other would probably be a good way to start. You have to do that yourself though. As for the order... I'll help so you won't get any trouble from it. Chrno has proven that not all demons are alike, and maybe it's time to rethink how we deal with demons in general. Since it's fairly obvious that not even heaven knows God's intentions all the time, it should be possible to convince the board that humans don't either." He looked through the little hole again giving the girl a reassuring smile. "So if you take care of what you need to take care of, then I will do what I can to make it acceptable to the order."

"Thanks..." The words as well as his smile comforted her.

"You're welcome..."

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A few minutes later the blonde militia stepped out of the confessional, and made her way out of the chapel. She had straightened her outfit and her hair, so she would look as normal as possible. She had confessed, and it had actually felt good to let it out.

But...

What...

Now?

How was she going to handle this?

How was she going to say it to him?

How would he react?

What if...

Rosette suddenly got very nervous, and she didn't even know if she had the courage to do what she wanted.

What if... he didn't?

What... if he couldn't?

Then again... what if he could?

What if he even did?

Her mind remembered the clock stopping.

What if he was beginning to think he wasn't needed anymore?

What if he was planning to leave because of that?

Or what if things became awkward between them if he knew how she felt but didn't feel the same?

What if he would leave if that happened?

A million different thoughts began rummaging through her brain, each one battling the other nine hundred ninety nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine to death, and it was giving her a throbbing headache. Rosette gripped her temples in a vain attempt to stop thinking, she felt like screaming but managed to hold it back... she was still only sixteen... it was too early to begin acting insane.

She paced around for a little while before making her way back to the girl's dorm – not the slightest bit closer to figuring out what to do or how to do it. Standing in the hallway, looking almost like they were waiting for her, was none other than three apostles of gossip. _'Great...'_

Anna came up to her first, blue eyes glistening, burgundy hair dangling from side to side as she regarded her fellow sister with an expectant look. "Hi Rosette! How are you doing?" A big smile was plastered across her face.

What was all this about?

"Is it true? Is it true?" Mary was jumping fervently (and repeatedly) into the air, her head bopping up and down behind the red-haired girl.

"What?" Rosette asked

"What do you think? The announcement of course." Anna was clearly puzzled, that the honey-blonde sister showed no sign of comprehension.

"What announcement?" Rosette was getting as perplexed as Anna, and the two nuns started a glaring contest – each one scrutinizing the other's face intently: Rosette searching for a clue to what was going on, Anna searching for a breach in Rosette's mask of feigned ignorance.

It ended when Claire spoke.

"That you love Chrno."

"WHAT?" Rosette whirled to face the brunette. "NO! Why would..." She never finished the sentence before being rudely interrupted.

"I..."

By her own voice.

"...LOVE HIM."

Coming from the loudspeakers in the hallway.

"I LOVE..."

They were typically used during emergencies.

"...CHRNO."

And they were situated strategically so everyone within the dorm could hear them easily.

Rosette's conception of time slowed down to a crawl...

Then a bubble of nausea burst in her stomach, forcing her to swallow loudly in order not to hurl...

Immediately afterwards the world started spinning at a pace which would make any person pass out.

Unfortunately... she didn't.

_'Crap...'_

"That's the third time. I think it's grand way to announce your love to the world. I never thought you would do that." Anna said, looking triumphantly at the stunned blonde. "So when did you two start dating?"

_'Crap!'_

"I think it's really sweet, I'm really happy for you and I'm sure he's going to love the surprise..." Mary's eyes were full of excitement. "It was a surprise right?"

_'CRAP!'_

"He looked surprised when I saw him a few minutes ago." Claire said thoughtfully.

Rosette took off...

_'CRAAAAAAAAP!'_

Not knowing how to react she simply began running, getting as far away from the three gossipers as fast as she could.

"What was that about?" Anna asked curiously – the other two shrugged.

Rosette ran and ran, her legs moved as fast as physically possible – which wasn't very fast since some evil deity had decided to tie invisible blocks of concrete to her feet making her pace slow to an excruciating crawl. The same deity had also lengthened the hallway so it rivaled the Nile in distance and alerted every girl in the dorm of her presence. Everywhere there were eyes upon her, everyone was smiling, giggling, whistling at her, or in some other way making her extremely uncomfortable. The wave of nausea kept rising up inside her, a knot the size of a watermelon had formed in her stomach, and she had to fight to keep from crying openly.

This was a nightmare.

After what seemed like the time and effort it takes to climb Mount Everest, she finally found her little room. She hurried inside, shut the door and dived into her bed, hiding under the covers in an effort to block out the rest of the world. Her hands gripped and pulled her hair trying to replace the sickening feeling in her midsection with a more acceptable physical pain.

How did this happen?

_'Oh... God...'_

Someone must have taken Elder's device, recorded her confession with it, and broadcasted that particular part over the speakers.

_'Oh... God!'_

Which meant that everyone knew...

The knot tightened even more...

_'Chrno knows...'_

A horrible nightmare!

There was a soft knock on the door.

"GO AWAY!"

Shortly after there was a creaking sound, and the teen's anger rose for being ignored so blatantly – it rose to a level which would be very unhealthy to the person who had ignored her. If there was something which had ever managed to ease her discomfort, it was beating something up, and she would definitely make sure that whoever it was that had come in would be extremely sorry for...

"Rosette...?" The baritone voice immediately quelled her anger, and she sat up with a jolt, uncovering her head.

The knot tightened to the point of making her intestines explode, and her nausea increased to where she could almost feel the bitter taste of bile and acid worming its way up from her stomach.

Chrno stood in the doorway – in full form. His amber eyes were wide and radiating, his chest heaved, and his wings were folded along his back like a black cape. A thin film of sweat covered his body, and he seemed to have been in a hurry. "I've been looking for you... I was downtown... when I heard..."

Horrible...

"Chrno..." _'Oh God...'_

"It's not..." _'Yes it is...'_

"I mean..." _'What?'_

"I don't..." _'Yes I do...'_

"I just..." _'WHAT?'_

"You're not..." _'Yes you are!'_

"I didn't mean..." _'YES I DID!'_

"It's just thammff..." _'----------'_

Her jumbled speech was stopped instantly by the softness of damp demon lips pressed against hers.

Chrno's right knee rested on the bed, his right hand held her head, his left arm was locked around her waist, and his torso pressed against her chest. Rosette became completely limp in his embrace, her arms hung powerless at her sides, a deep blush rose to her cheeks, and her eyelids refused to stay open. Before she knew what she was doing her mouth had opened, and her tongue had cautiously ventured out to meet his.

And the knot began to unwind...

Several seconds (too few for Rosette's taste actually) afterwards the sinner slowly released his hold over her lips. "You're babbling..." Fiery eyes walked over her face "...you always do that..." A gentle hand came up to brush a lock of gold away from her forehead. "...when you're nervous."

"Chrno... I..."

"Shhh... you already told me, and I'm here to tell you that the feeling is mutual."

"It is?" There was genuine surprise in her voice, and her eyes widened.

"How could it not be? You saved me..." He smiled – that brilliant smile, which reached all the way from his lips to his eyes – that smile which he didn't have until several years after getting out of the tomb – that smile she suddenly felt she had brought up in him. "...from everything."

"You really feel that way..." Now she smiled back. "...about _me_?"

"I do. I think I have for as long as I've known you."

"Ewwww... Chrno..." Rosette eyed the demon with a bit of (hard to muster) contempt. "I was twelve!"

Chrno couldn't help laughing. "Ha ha... that's not what I meant... I meant I have always loved your spirit, your optimism, your enthusiasm, the other things..." He returned his gaze towards hers, he didn't think he had ever seen so much warmth in her eyes before. "Well, I'm not exactly sure when they came along, but if you hadn't said anything I would never have told you."

Her hands reached for him and traveled playfully up his chest and over his shoulders, locking themselves together behind his neck. "Why?"

"I thought I might drive you away if you knew. I mean you are human... a sister even... literally a daughter of God... I never dreamed that you would be interested in the affections of a fallen demon, an outcast with no rank, shunned by heaven and hell alike and hated throughout the world."

"You know I'll never see you like that..." Rosette's wrapped her arms further around his neck. "...never..."

"I know that... I just couldn't believe..." His hold around her waist tightened, as he buried his face in the honey-colored hair, inhaling deeply. "I want you to know how grateful I am for you, and that there's nothing I won't do for you and..."

"Chrno..." The blonde interrupted. "If what you say is really true..." Her hands slid towards his temples and she gently pushed his head backwards giving her a clear view of his face. "Then why are you still only using your mouth to talk to me?" She shot him a smile which was instantly returned, dug her fingers into the purple tresses, "...come here..." and pulled him down onto the bed on top of her.

And as lips met yet again, the knot unwound completely, releasing a pleasant heat throughout her body.

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"You wanted to see me?" The blond minister asked as he entered the office.

"Yes, come in. There is something urgent which has come up." Sister Kate sat behind her desk looking as stalwart as ever. A strange box which Remington hadn't seen before lay before her amidst the many reports she spent her day reading through.

"Alright, what is it?" The priest asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Just take a seat." The head sister's voice was even and calm. She got up from her chair, and went towards the coffee table.

Ewan sat down and, being overcome by curiosity, began to examine the box. It was completely black with a few white buttons on the side, and some green ones on the face. "What's this," he asked after putting it down again.

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about." Kate poured herself a cup of tea. "Try and press the leftmost green button."

There was a 'click' from the box as he pressed the button. "Forgive me father, for I have Sinned." His eyes widened... It was sister Kate's voice... coming from the device. Realization dawned on him instantly. "It has been a month since my last confession."

"And what does your heart need forgiveness for?" That was his own voice... it was muffled, but there was no doubt... _'Oh... this... is not... good...'_

"No the _other_ left..." Sister Kate said rolling her eyes.

Dammit... how was he supposed to know which way the box was supposed to face? Turning it 180 degrees he pressed the green button which was now on the left. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned." This time it was Rosette's voice.

"What did you destroy this time?" Again his own voice... from todays confession... _'This is definitely... NOT! GOOD!'_

"Fast forward if you don't mind..." Kate said calmly as she put down the pot again and drank a sip of her tea. "Just push the white button on the side with the arrow pointing upwards for a few seconds..."

With a pained expression Remington did as he was told, there was a click when he pressed the button, and another click when he released it a few seconds later.

"I..." Again this was Rosette's voice. "...love him"

And a third click – which made him jump a bit in his seat – coming from the door to the office being locked.

"I love..."

The footsteps behind him indicated sister Kate moving closer, they stopped before she passed him.

He could feel her gaze drilling into the back of his head...

"...Chrno."

"Ah yes. Rosette and Chrno..." Kate's voice was honeyed and dreamy, and it hovered ominously just inches away. "She happens to be quite smitten with him, but I guess you can't really blame her... what, with him always being there for her... always being _honest_ with her... that sort of thing... girls tend to like that you know..." Remington sat completely paralyzed, as the matron sister lowered her head towards his left shoulder and spoke softly into his ear. "Nice bit of fatherly support you're giving her by the way..."

_'I'm dead...'_

"Thanks..." That was Rosette thanking him.

"You're welcome..." That was him responding.

And then there was a pause from the device...

A pause which lasted several seconds, a pause which should have been the end of the confession, a pause which had been the end of it if he had just...

"To tell you the truth it doesn't really come as a surprise to me, I've noticed how you've been acting, and I must admit I thought you would realize this sooner."

If he had just kept his BIG MOUTH SHUT!

"What do you mean?" Rosette sounded a bit startled and a bit irritated. "That I've been in love with Chrno, without realizing it myself?"

"Well... you have... haven't you...?"

"I might have... so what...?"

"Nothing... I'm just saying that it's good you've finally acknowledged you have feelings for him..."

Remington stared longingly through the window at the sunbathed courtyard outside... if just he could make a leap for it... perhaps go into hiding...

"Well excuse me for not being completely self confident or as fortunate as some people." Rosette's voice continued in an annoyed tone. "It's not like _I've_ heard him confess that he wanted to make love to me!"

"WHAT?" Yup... that was his own voice from the accursed contraption... sounding very surprised...

"Now this..." Kate's syrupy voice had the quality of a velvet noose – a soft caressing touch indicating that it's just about to break your neck. "...is where it starts to get interesting."

"Oh... I'm... Uhm... hehe..." Rosette had obviously spoken without thinking at the time – something the recording device relayed quite accurately.

"What... did you just say?"

Ewan jumped in his seat at the sound of yet another 'click' coming from behind him... it was different than the others... this was the sound of a gun being loaded...

"It was just... arh crap... the thing I stole from Elder's lab... it was a sound recording device, and I happened to record a few confessions and one of them was about Sister Kate confessing... well... you know..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gods... he sounded so amazingly naïve... though at the time he had merely tested if she really knew...

"Oh come on..." And she had known. "...I know you pretty well too, and I can tell if it's your voice or not – even when you try to fake another's. I'm surprised that Kate never noticed during the confession, and considering how she's been acting all different lately, I'd say _someone_ has taken advantage of a bit of knowledge."

Another excruciating pause from the recording device... The minister's expression turned to one of pure agony... why the hell did there have to be SO MANY PAUSES?

He felt something cold and hard brushing against the left side of his neck... metal...

He cast a fearful glance towards shoulder...

Yup.

Kate's personal demon-slaying six-shooter. With a bit longer barrel than practically any other revolver out there, firing a bit higher caliber bullets at a bit greater muzzle velocity... an already heavy hand cannon tweaked by the elder for that extra bit of 'you're history sucker'.

"Who has heard this?" His own voice said coming from the treacherous device.

"Just me and Chrno, and I don't even think he knows who the priest is... even though he's got superhuman hearing he can be remarkably easy to fool sometimes."

"And the recording?"

The blond man closed his eyes and grit his teeth painfully, as the muzzle of Kate's gun traveled gently across the back of his neck, sending icy spikes down his spine. _'I'm gonna die... divine immortality my angel-haired ass... she's gonna kill me...'_

"I still have it."

"I might need to see that before you deliver it back... or maybe it's best if the thing disappeared entirely."

Kate was now standing directly in front of him... the priest squirmed in his seat and directed his eyes down towards the recording device...

"Yeah... I was kinda thinking the same thing... it's getting a bit dangerous..."

Ewan felt the steel barrel beneath his chin... lifting his head upwards... forcing him to meet her gaze...

"I trust this stays within these walls..."

The matron sister regarded him with a steely look in her eyes. All he was able to offer in return was an apologetic smile, which must have looked incredibly feeble.

"Yeah..."

Suddenly she stomped one foot up on the chair.

WHOA...

right between his legs.

Dangerously close to something precious... he shifted agonizingly in his seat as the shoe threatened to squash his nobler parts... Kate leaned forward resting her upper body on her knee...

"So what about prayers...?" Rosette had asked this on her way out of the confessional.

The head sister tilted her head a bit sideways, the soft, indulgent expression on her face reeked of viciousness. The gun brushed leisurely across his chin making small tickling movements which caused cold sweat to trickle down his temple...

"Ah to hell with them... he's got a machine taking all those prayers anyway..." At that time he and Rosette had shaken hands, a mutual understanding between them that it was best for both of them to keep this to themselves...

Ewan closed his eyes and braced for impact...

"You can stop it now..." Kate said with the same frighteningly sugared tone in her voice... he felt her breath coming closer... The shoe between his legs pushed forward forcefully and his eyes shot open in pain...

_'Auuw...'_

The terrified exorcist did as he was told, and pushed the button which had started this 'confession'.

"So... I believe you have something to confess... but since you so clearly stated that God does not listen to the prayers it wouldn't really matter to asks for his forgiveness, now would it?" With a little smile she gently grabbed his chin pulling his head so close that their noses almost touched... lowered the gun so it pointed directly at his crotch...

and pulled the trigger...

'CLICK'

Ewan jumped in his seat again... his breathing had quickened considerably, blue eyes were wild and frantic, and a drop of sweat landed on his thigh...

"That..."

Kate cocked the revolver once again... 'click'

"...was a blank..."

stroked his chin affectionately with one finger,

"...the next one..."

and pushed the weapon further down,

"...is a modified gospel."

so the priest without a doubt could feel where it was pointing.

_'Dear God...'_

"Which means that you are now going to beg _me_ for forgiveness... and you'd better make damn sure I will like what I'm going to hear... my little angel."

_'...mercy...'_

_+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+_

_+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ _

Rosette snuggled closer into the embrace of her demon... boyfriend...? Lover...? Arh to hell with what it was called... he was her Chrno now and that was all that mattered. She was in a world encircled in his embrace, dominated by his smell and overpowered by his touch – right where she wanted to be. She buried her face in his neck laying open-mouthed kisses there to taste even more of him. The feel of his hands on her body – even though they were outside her militia outfit – was something she could not get enough of.

"You know," the sinner said after a while."We're going to have to deal with sister Kate at some point."

Rosette scooted a bit backwards looking directly into the gentle fires of his irises, her hands dived into his hair again – she loved that feeling. "Yeah... but let's not worry about that right now... besides father Remington told me that he'd put in a good word for you."

"Really?" Chrno put on a curious expression "And when did he tell you that?"

"Today... at confession." Her thoughts suddenly went to her confession... if somebody had taped it Remington would have his hands full, and Kate might have a few things on her mind if she got a hold it – something told her that she would.

She began giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"I just realized that sister Kate might have more pressing concerns than us right now." She smiled and dug her fingers a bit deeper. Even though his hair still felt smooth to the touch, it had become quite unruly. "I've messed up your hair."

"So you have." Crimson eyes turned upwards, as if he was attempting to look at it.

"I can braid it if you'd like."

"I would." He smiled.

Rosette sat up in the bed, and straightened her clothes, motioning for the demon to sit up as well. As she was about to start braiding she suddenly became aware that her previous nausea and stress had left a large hole in her stomach.

"Chrno...?" She asked in a singsong voice wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Now there was a tone he'd never heard her use before. With suspicion in his eyes the demon turned his head to look at his former contractor. "Yes?"

"I'm actually really hungry... do you want to fetch some ice cream from downtown?" She had put on her most persuasive expression regarding him with big blue puppy eyes.

Chrno made a skeptical smile. "So now I'm supposed to be your errand boy as well?"

Rosette pouted. "Well, you did say there was nothing you wouldn't do for me... but if you won't even do such a little thing..." She let out an unmistakably fake sigh. "Then I simply don't see how I can trust anything you say to me..."

"Uh..." Chrno's went wide... did she just?

"Eh..." His jaw sagged.

"Uhm..." Had he really no response to counter hers?

Nope...

None whatsoever.

A big smile began to spread on the blonde sister's face when her victory was a fact. "I'd like some pistachio and vanilla and oh... I've heard about this new flavor with chocolate ice cream which has marshmallows and nuts in it... if you can find some of that it'll be great." Her voice was eager with enthusiasm.

"And my hair?" He had actually been looking forward to getting his hair braided. It was something she hadn't done ever since he had gotten his horns back, and he really liked when she did it.

"When you get back."

"You do know..." Chrno muttered with obvious – albeit not entirely sincere – displeasure. "...that you are the incarnation of evil, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Rosette responded giving him a quick kiss. "But I'm your incarnation of evil."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"So what is that?" Azmaria was sitting – legs dangling over the edge of the table – next to a very strange looking box.

The thingamajig was approximately six inches long, four inches wide, and three inches tall. It had a tube on one of the shorter sides with a round glass lens at the end, another small rectangular piece of glass on the opposite side, and an incredible amount of buttons spread on the two remaining sides. The inside was cramped with all sorts of electronic stuff which the young apostle had no names for, and her eyes were wide with childish curiosity.

"This..." The elder put the lid on top of the box, hiding the internals of the gadget from view. "Is a wondrous machine." He grabbed a screwdriver fastening the lid carefully. "It can take pictures... many pictures..." Finishing with the screwdriver he gently patted the device, as if it was a newly acquired pet.

"Oh..." Azmaria continued. "How many?"

The Elder looked at the girl. "Many... twenty-five every second." His mouth widened into a big grin. "All in color and good quality... and it can record sound as well."

"Wow!" Azmaria exclaimed. "You mean that it's just like..."

"A motion picture... exactly." He let his hand glide lovingly over the box. "Did you give the thing to Kate?"

"Yes I did."

"Good girl..." The Elder said with a pleased expression. "Here, you've earned it." He handed her three one-dollar bills.

"Wow... thanks." She hadn't expected that much... what was she going to do with all this money? Maybe buy something for Rosette or Chrno... or maybe... something nice for herself... perhaps Rosette's brother Joshua would want to go with her to town so she wouldn't have to go alone...

Pocketing her new wealth, the girl jumped down from the table, and made it for the door – her head filled with all the nice things she could get for three dollars.

The Elder smiled as the apostle left. She was still just a young girl and it didn't take that much to make her happy, and of course she had no idea what she had been a part of by delivering the recording device to sister Kate. He had been a bit surprised when she had shown up with his wayward invention explaining how sorry she was that Rosette had snatched it and what she had been using it for. Soon after he got the idea to record the blonde's own confession as she had done with others... if nothing else then just to teach her a lesson.

The double-confession he had captured however provided a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The broadcasting and subsequent delivery of the device to sister Kate should definitely shake things up within the order. First of all Rosette and Chrno could no longer ignore what was pretty much plain to everyone. And secondly sister Kate would find out a few things about Remington... although he had no doubt that she would find it in her heart to 'forgive' the priest, making for a more healthy relationship between the two highest ranking people of the New York branch.

Yes things around here were bound to become VERY interesting now.

Twenty-five pictures every second...

He smiled as he regarded his newest work affectionately.

...in full color, good quality, and with added sound...

Humming a merry little melody, he began making the final touches to the combined goggles/earphones required to make use of the recordings-to-come, ensuring that they too were in perfect working order.

As the old inventor again got caught up in his work, the sun crept out from behind a white cloud, illuminating the otherwise dark and stuffy workshop, making it appear almost inviting to strangers.

_It's gonna be a bright,_

Not much light entered into sister Kate's office though – the curtains were tightly shut.

_bright,_

Same could be said about Rosette's room where the window and drapes had been closed shortly after a purple haired demon had flown inside with a grocery bag in hand.

_bright,_

A number of people – including perhaps the two apostles who were on their way downtown – would claim that it was a shame to stay inside, since the weather today was really beautiful, with a clear blue sky, a few cotton clouds, very little wind, and just the right temperature.

_bright,_

Sometimes however, sunshine doesn't have to come from the sky.

_sunshiny day..._

**THE END.**

* * *

There you have it... a bit of angst... bit of fluff... bit of humor... and an all around happy ending where Chrno and Rosette get each other, Kate gets some truths about Remington, Remington gets (well... you figure that one out for yourself), Azmaria and Joshua get money to go shopping, and Elder gets access to homemade porn. Now doesn't that just make you feel all warm and tingly inside? 

On the downside this means that I've officially finished the story which is my primary review source (sad face). But I'm not done writing just yet, and you're welcome to follow my other stories. You know what they say: The more readers, the merrier the writer (or something like that :-) ).

Oh... and Rocky Road ice cream was allegedly invented in 1929 in California... don't say Rosette haven't gotten her antennas out when it comes to food.


End file.
